Safety razor



J. MUROS SAFETY RAZOR May 9, 1933.

Filed Nov. 27, 1928 INVENTOR ATTORNE plan view of the blade clamping element of Patented May 9, 1933 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE JOSEPH mmos, or NEW roman. Y;, assrsnon, BY vmsivn assrenmnms, TO GILLETTE SAFETY RAZOR COMPAN WARE OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF DELA- SAFETY nazon Application flled November 27, 1928. Serial No. 322,189.

The present invention relates to improvements in safety razors, and moreparticularly to the blade holder and blades thereof.

It is a common practice at'present 1n the safety razor trade to manufacture and sell blades which fit the blade holders of other manufacturers. The user may, therefore, purchase several makes of blades fitting his blade holder to the exclusion of the blades manufactured by the maker of the holder. While under certain circumstances there is nothing wrong with this practice, an extended study'of the field reveals the factthat the general public is apt to blame the manufacturer of the holder for the faults of inferior blades, resulting in great injury and damage to the reputation of the holder manufacturer.

The main object of the present invention Is to provide a blade holder and blade construction which effectively precludes this general practice. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and eflicient blade holder and blade construction which is capable of manufacture on a commercialscale, or in other words one which is not so difiicult to make as to be beyond the reasonable cost of such a' construction of parts hereinafter described,

pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claims, withouttdethe advantages of the invention.

One of the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which: v

Figurel is a front elevation of the top portion of a safety razor constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the same; Fig. 4 is a bottom parting from the spirit or sacrificing any of the razor; Fig. 5 is a front elevation of this last-mentioned element; Fig. 6 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 4; Fig. 8 is a top planview of the 1 In the drawing,fwhichillustratesthe application of the invention to a safety razor of the Gillette type, the numeral 10 indicates a blade supporting plate, suitably curved along-its longitudinal edges and provided with teeth 11, forming guards for the wellknown purpose. On this plate is adapted to rest a transverselyfiexible blade 12, having longitudinal cutting edges 13. This blade is positioned upon its support by lugs 14 on a clamping cap 15, which lugs extend through registering openings 16 and 17 in the blade and supporting plate, respectively, the said lugs and open ngs being of a configuration to be more fully described hereinafter.

The cap is provided with a concaved underface 18, its longitudinal edges resting on the upper face of the blade. From the nu derface of the cap projects centrally a screwthreaded spindle 19, which extends through registering apertures 20 and 21 in the blade and supporting plate, respectively. The razor is provided with a handle 22, having a screw-threaded bore, not shown, the-threads of which mesh with those of the spindle 19.

Inasmuch as the construction and operation of the said screw-threaded boreand spindle are well-known, they being embodied in the razor of the type known in the trade as the Gillette razor, a detailed description of the function and operation of these elements seems to be unnecessary. I

The positioning lugs 14 are cylindrical and their free ends are somewhat pointed, as usual in construction of this type.- Spaced from the underface 18-of the cap, each of these lugs is provided with an enlargement 23 of any suitable configuration. ,In the case illustrated each of these enlar ements is semiannular in form, the ends 0 each semieannulus being located in a line extending at right angles to the longitudinal edges of the cap and the said two semi-annular enlargements projecting in oppositedirections being illustratin said supporting plate. It wi v ond the two lugs 14, as clearly shown in relation of the enlargement 23 to the longitudinal ed e portions of the cap'is clearly shown in. igs. 5 and 6 of the drawing. The

pur ose of this arrangement will appear hereina ter. I

The registering openings 17 and 16 in the supportin plate 10 and the razor blade l2,

respective are alike in configuration.

Their con guration is congruous with the transversecross-section of a lug 14 through the enlar ement 23 As appears more specifically 50m Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawing,

each of these openings comprises a semi-c1rcular edge portion 24 of a diameter corresponding to thediameter of the lug 14 cooperating therewith, and a semircircular portion 25 of a diameter corresponding to that of the perimeter of the enlar emen't v23 on said lug. The two semi-circa ar ed portions are 0 positely disposed, and their ends connected by straight lines 26, extendin at right angles to the cutting edges of the b ade or to the longitudinal edges of the supporting late, as thecase may be. It willbe noted fromthe foregoing that the openings 16 and 17 are arranged symmetrically in re, lation to the transverse axes of the blade and supportingrplate, respectively. V

u use, the razor is assembled in the usual manner, Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive of the drawthe partsassembled m the i positions :whic :they occupy for shaving.

bling the'elernentdrthe lugs threaded spindle 19am extendedthrough the openings 16 and-aperture 20, respect1vely,m

Attention is called to the fact that in assem- 14 and screwthe blade {The said lugs and spindle are then 3 extended through' the correspond ng openings and" ,a rture' in the supporting plate, after whic the handle is brou ht into engagement 'cwith the said; s in e and screwed home so as to clam t e blade on If be noted that,

-'before the blade vis -flexed m shaving, the

blade is. alread disposed f ,betweeii ithe enlargements on t e lugs and the inner ends of the latter. The semi-circular edges 24 of the openings 16 are then inen'ga merit throughout their lengths with-the ugs', so that, in, flexing the blade, the latter is prevented fromv shiftin both longitudinally and transverse: I on t e supporting plate of the razor, and t is position will be maintainedduring the flexing operation 'and, consequently, after the blade has been clamped to the supportin plate. I a a t is obvious, thatwhile herein cylindrical lugs and semi-annular enlargements thereon 'main features of the invention are the have been described and razor blade openings of a specific configuration have been shown, lugs, enlargements and openings of any other suitable configuration may be made use of without departing from the invention.

It will also be readily seen that the edge portions 24 of the blade 0 enings need not extend through an are 0% 180 degrees to form their functions above set forth. possible to reduce the annular distance through which these edge portions extend to an appreciable degree, without imparing their functions.

It is to be observed that the enlargements or'excluding portions 23 on the In s or studs 14 extendoutwardly and away rom'each other. This is an important feature since .it facilitates the assemblage and disassemblage of the blade 12 and cap 15. If the vertical spacesbetween the enlar ements 23 and the cap 15 were accurately filled in there would be a tendency to a binding and gripping ac tion between the outermost edges of the blade receiving and positioning. apertures and the filled-in vertical portions between the cap 15 and enlargements, unless the blade 12' and cap. 15 were keptconstantl in parallel relation while assembling and isassembling. It therefore becomes apparent that the undercut feature asapplie is important since it notjonly ,facilitates assemblage and disassembla e; it also ermits the manufacturer of the blade to ma e the combined ositioning and rrecei'ving apertures ofjhe lade to accurately correspond to the cross-sectional contour of the combined ositioning feature and excluding feature of? the lugs or studs. It isalso noted that the large receivin portions 25 of the blade apertures 16 extend transversely of the bladep12, a distance of less than one-third the width of said blade and more than one-fourth the width of said blade. These relative dimensions are pointed out as involving a material feature since it' is essential that thereceiving portion ofthe blade aperture should be large in order to receive the excluding enlargements 23. In spite of the fact that specific dimensions place when the la e is flexed if the enlargement 23 were not undercut. l t-follows there- '"fore that blade aperture 16 may be cut to ac- "curately fit the cross-sectional contour of the stud includin the under-cut. enlargement 23.

From the oregoing it appears that the P vision of positioning lugs which-have latere ally and oppositely extending projections or ip ing action would take enlargements, both of any desired configuration, and a blade having lug receiving openings through which the lugs with their onlargements may be extended, each of sald openings having a portion the configuration of which corresponds to or snugly fits part of the transverse cross-section of the lug, while the other portion permits of extension therethrough of said enlargement. It is essential that, while the enlarged portion of a lug receiving opening need not be congruous with the projection or enlargement on the lug, its dimension or dimensions transversely of the blade should be larger than the diameter of a lug. It will be readily seen that, if the lug enlargement receiving portions of the openings were transversely of the same diameter or had transyersely the same dimensions as the body portion of the lug, any blade having an oblong opening of a width corresponding to the diameter or width of the transverse cross-section of a positioning lug would fit the lug and prevent shifting of the blade transversely on the supporting plate.

It will be readily understood that, while herein the invention has been described as applicable to a razor of the Gillette type, it may be applied to any other construction without departing from the invent ion.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of a blade with a blade holder, said holder including blade holding members, one of said members having two positioning lugs rigidly and fixedly secured thereto, said lugs comprising wholly rigid one-piece elements, said lugs having semi-cylindrical positioning portions located centrally of the member, a blade having two openings for co-operation with said lugs, and a laterally projecting semi-annular enlargement on each lug spaced from the blade-abutting surface of said holder a distance that is greater than the thickness of the blade. the said two enlargements extending away from each other in opposite directions from-said lugs, the configuration of each opening in said blade corresponding to that of the largest transverse cross-section of a lug co-operating therewith, whereby the blade may be reversibly positioned in its holder.

2. In a combination according to claim 1, the ends of each lug enlargement being in a line extending at right angles to the longitudinal axis of said holder.

3. A blade for a safety razor, having internal blade-locating apertures disposed in the axis of symmetry of the blade and each comprising a large, outwardly-curved, semicircular portion merging into a smaller, inwardly-curved, semi-circular portion. the edges of said smaller portion serving to locate the blade and those of the larger portion afi'ording clearance in positioning the blade, the diameters of the larger portions of the locating apertures extending transversely of the blade and the diameters of both large and small portions of said apertures being coincident respectively throughout the length of the small diameters.

4. A razor comprising a razor head and a handle, said head including cap and guard members and a blade, said blade having a central aperture and combined positioning and receivin apertures, means located centrally on said cap member, passing through the blade and guard and co-acting with means on said handle for drawing the parts of said head together with the blade clamped between the cap and guard members, one of said members having lugs including blade aligning portions and enlarged blade excluding portions, said aligning portions engaging accurately the adjacent edges of the blade positioning apertures, said enlargements extending away from each other and being spaced or under-cut from said member both longitudinally and transversely 'whereby gripping or binding action between blade and lugs While the blade and member are assembled and disassembled is prevented, the enlarged or receiving portion of the positioning aperture having substantially the same area and contour as that represented by a cross-section of the enlarged portion of the positioning lug, said lugs comprising rigid one-piece elements secured fixedly and rigidly to one of the members.

5. A flexible razor blade of oblong contour having a central aperture and combined positioning and receiving apertures located symmetrically on opposite sides of the central aperture and in the central zone of the blade, said positioning apertures having relatively small semi-circular lug engaging portions which extend toward each other and are adapted to engage the adjacent portions of positioning lugs, said positioning apertures also having enlarged semi-circular receiving portions extending away from each other and remote from the central aperture, said enlarged receiving portions having their diameters extending transversely of the blade, each diameter being of less length than one-third the width'of the blade and greater length than one-fourth the width of the blade and substantially twice the length of the small diameter of the small semi-circular portions.

6. A razor blade according to claim 5 in which the diameters of the small semi-circular portions are coincident respectively with the diameters of the large semi-circular portions throughout the length of the small diameters.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 26th day of November, A. D. 1928.

JOSEPH MUROS. 

